


The Hands Of Time

by AsagiStilinski



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Getting Together, M/M, Magic!Stiles, Nightmares, Premonitions, Prophetic Visions, Spark Stiles Stilinski, Time Travel Fix-It, Warning: Kate Argent, canon compliant through 3b, sterekdivegent, sterekweek2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-28
Updated: 2016-10-28
Packaged: 2018-08-27 12:24:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8401633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: Maybe he was in some kind of alternate reality, maybe he wasn't just back in time from almost two years ago, maybe ... maybe this was an entirely new WORLD...Only way to find out was to get a second opinion, his dad wasn't home and probably wouldn't begin to believe him if he was, Scott would still be deeply mourning Allison if he HAD somehow gone back in time and so would Lydia, there was only one person he could talk to, one person who he had even a SLIGHT chance of believing him....And that person was Derek





	

**Author's Note:**

> Day five of Sterek Week! It's so long... I really did intend to spice up the end with the confrontation between Stiles and Kate but honestly I was starting to get behind schedule and just needed to finish it :( And this thing is already so long and exhausting for a oneshot... but I hope it's good anyway! <3

Stiles woke up with a gasp, panting and grappling desperately for something to grab onto

What he found beneath him were... sheets.... his sheets.....

He bolted up in bed, looking around and sniffing quietly as he stared at his room

His... room... from over a year ago...

Reaching out shakily, he grabbed his phone off of his nightstand, staring in shock as he saw that it, too, was his old model from over a year ago....

Swallowing harshly, his hands trembled as he turned it on, dropping it when the lock screen came up with the time and date

**2:43 A.M. November 14th 2011**

No wonder everything was from so long ago...

But that didn't make sense, he was supposed to be in 2013 now, the end of senior year, he had just been on the verge of graduating when.... when what LITTLE he had left in the world crumbled to bits and peices...

With a shaking hand, he picked up the phone again, clicking on his contact list and scrolling through it

It was all there... every phone number he had back then ... even Allison's was still there...

And he wasn't sure why he was surprised, it was his phone from 2011, ofcourse it still had all of the information in it

His throat felt raw and sore as he tumbled out of bed, grabbing his keys from the nightstand and walking on unsteady legs down the hall, down the stairs, noticing how everything looked the same, and when he came across a mirror on the wall in the hallway...

He realized that even HE looked the same as he did from the year and a half before...

He looked younger, his hair was longer, lighter, fluffier, his face clearer, a little fuller, still retaining that little bit of extra baby fat to it that he had lost to maturity in the coming summer

But most of all he just looked... healthier...

Sure the nogitsune had taken it's toll and he still had that look of haunted age to him that no teenager should ever have, that no one should REALLY ever have, but ... but it was so much LESS than what he had gained after senior year started....

He swallowed, looking down at his hands

Trembling, pale, long as usual but... with no scars or callouses...

Lifting up his shirt he found no scar from where the shard of glass had been stabbed through him fighting Malia's mother, reaching over his shoulder left him with soft, untouched skin, no scar from Donovan's attack either...

He didn't bother checking the rest of his body for the various scars and wounds he had sustained after all of that, that had come from the Wild Hunt and the incidents that came after

He was back in his body from 2011, freshly eighteen, still young, the years of damage not catching up to him as easily as they would later on...

Licking his lips, he rushed out to the jeep and put the hood up

No duct tape, no new parts, no replaced engine....

The paint was old and scraped, the steering weel still had a scratch in it from the time Scott wolfed out and tore it, the tires were still old, he remembered having them replaced six weeks after Allison died so...

Hopping in, he turned the key and took off, his body full of tremors as he drove

Maybe he was in some kind of alternate reality, maybe he wasn't just back in time from almost two years ago, maybe ... maybe this was an entirely new WORLD...

Only way to find out was to get a second opinion, his dad wasn't home and probably wouldn't begin to believe him if he was, Scott would still be deeply mourning Allison if he HAD somehow gone back in time and so would Lydia, there was only one person he could talk to, one person who he had even a SLIGHT chance of believing him....

And that person was Derek

~+~

Derek was restless

Not that that was anything new but it was a particular kind of listlessness that stemmed only from death-driven anxiety

He had never been close to Allison, or the twins, hell he still held a bit of resentment towards both Allison and Aidan for what harm they had caused to his pack, he could never manage to wash that bitter taste out of his mouth no matter how many times he tried and the total lack of apology from either of them was still a scab that he had to keep resisting the urge to pick at

But...

But at the end of the day two teenagers were dead, both caused by something that had been possessing Stiles' body, wearing his face....

And Derek just KNEW

He knew that this guilt was going to consume Stiles for the rest of his life and it hurt so badly because he knew what that was like

Derek had lived with that, still lived with it, and what he had wanted most for his pack when he tried to form it were two simple things:

Survival, and never having to live through that kind of torment

It was official, he could accomplish neither

And even outside of that, he mourned for them, in his own way

Scott had just lost his first love in his arms just like Derek had and no matter how many differences the two of them had he would never, ever be anything but a shoulder for Scott to lean on if he needed it when it came to that moment

Derek had never had that, he was going to make sure that come hell or high water Scott would

Lydia had just lost her best freind and her boyfreind in one night and hell if Derek didn't know what it felt like to lose more than one person at once

Laura was his best freind even before the fire, they may have squabbled like siblings, always did, but at the end of the day Laura was his Supergirl, he looked up to her, admired her, and spent time with her the way that freinds did totally free of any sibling obligations

So when she died he not only to experience losing his sister and the woman who had raised him in his late teen years, but he experienced what it was like to lose his best freind too

Not to mention the fire, when he lost far more than just two people...

The two of them had to live with those massive losses and worse they had to live with knowing that the thing responsible had walked in Stiles' skin, worn the face of one of their best freinds, someone they loved dearly...

God, Derek wondered if they would ever live through this....

He couldn't even begin to fathom what Chris Argent was going through, and lord knew he had no love loss for that man, but he would never say that he didn't have the greatest sympathy in the world for him right now

Chris and Derek were finally on equal grounds, both lost every single member of their families- except one psychotic relative that they wished they could lose- to a stupid war driven by greed, chaos, insanity, and bigotry

Except... Chris had lost his CHILD... and with all of the pain and suffering Derek had been through he thanked every higher power that he had never suffered through THAT and prayed that he never would

Derek also had Cora, strained and rough as their relationship was, maybe Chris had a long lost relative out there somewhere too, and for his sake, Derek hoped he did

He didn't know how to process Issac telling him that he and Chris were leaving next week for France

On the one hand it was good, getting out of Beacon Hills- away from this hellmouth and the creepy crawlies that lived within it- and two people who loved Allison more than anyone (excluding Scott, ofcourse) being able to greive her together without outside interference

It was good

But knowing that the very last member of his pack, his last beta was about to leave him too...

It hurt

Derek was actually glad for the nock on the door, it pulled him out of his thoughts, gave him something to focus on other than the monumental agony he was going through, realizing just how many people- most of them just kids- were experiencing the pain he had been through in the last several years...

The nocking turned quickly from a comfort to a cause for alarm though when it started growing louder and more desperate and more VIOLENT and it only raised Derek's anxiety more when he realized that the scent outside the door was Stiles'....

And it smelled so anxious and afraid that Derek almost choked on it

"Stiles?" he called, sliding the door open and stumbling backwards when Stiles crashed into him

"Thank God..." the younger male gasped, his arms like a vice around Derek's torso as he squeezed and squeezed like a constrictor

"Oh thank God... thank God thank God thank God oh holy hell thank God..."

Derek ... didn't know what to do with this

Stiles was soaking wet, a salty mixture of sweat and tears that he couldn't quite distinguish as one from the other

He was freezing cold too, as if he had been walking around in the snow, shaking like a leaf and squeezing harder and harder still, each breath bringing another tight choking grip as if he was tightening his hold with his pulse

He was holding onto Derek so hard, in fact, that it actually hurt, wich was bizarre to consider that Stiles was human- and didn't have very much in terms of upper body strength, atleast not now when he had been so severely drained of energy over the past several days- and that, even by werewolf standards, Derek had considerable body mass and high pain tolerance

But this vice around him...

If it weren't for Derek's healing it would leave bruises that would last weeks

"Stiles... Stiles let.. loosen up a little," he hissed, gently trying to pry Stiles' hands away, but they wouldn't budge

It was only after he gave up on trying to get the iron grip around him to loosen that he noticed how damp his shirt was becoming and heard the tiny, wrecked sobs falling from his freind's- were they freinds? He wasn't sure if that's what he would call it but it sounded almost right- lips

He understood

Stiles had a million different reasons to be feeling this much pain right now and Derek could comfort him through all of them, or... atleast he could try....

What he didn't understand, however, was why Stiles had come HERE

Though maybe Derek was just a last resort

Things with the sheriff were tense at best, even Derek could see that, the way Stiles tip-toed around everything and spilled into spirals of apologies and intense resistance whenever the sheriff so much as breathed a little too loudly... it was heart-breaking to watch

Scott no doubt had his own mourning to go through and Stiles was right for not touching ground with him, or Lydia for that matter

He didn't know for sure but it didn't seem like Stiles was all that close to Kira and the new girl, Malia... Derek wasn't sure what to make of her yet, she didn't seem especially warm or particularly capable of handling things gently or with a comforting touch and he half-wondered if the reason Stiles was so upset was because he had tried to seek comfort from her and gotten..... disappointed.... by the results

Derek knew what that was like, he had tried once after Paige's death to cry on Peter's shoulder in a moment of severe desperation and Peter was about as comforting as a dead fish

He wasn't going to be Peter

Slowly, he wrapped his arms around Stiles and hugged him, nosed at his throat, rubbed his back, wispered quiet things into his ear, things that Derek couldn't really recognize himself saying, some things he knew, others just... tumbled out of his mouth from nowhere

He gave a little squeeze, and as if on automatic Stiles' grip loosened just an ounce, and he found that the tighter he hugged, the looser Stiles' own vice grip became

And so he hugged him

Tighter and tighter

Harder and harder

Until he was almost afraid that he was going to hurt him

And just as it came to the point of being almost bruising, Stiles went boneless, letting out something of a sigh as if that was what he had been craving from the start

And Derek held on

As long as he could, until he could sense Stiles starting to get uncomfortable, Derek held on

~+~

"So... this has nothing to do with Allison?"

Stiles shook his head, staring listlessly into the mug of hot chocolate Derek had made for him (hot chocolate that Erica had supplied, once upon a time, when she had been around)

"I'm not supposed to be here," he said quietly

"Stiles... I know it feels that way, and survivor's guilt is a real thing, I've been-"

"What? No, no no no I- ... no I mean I am literally, PHYSICALLY not supposed to be here," he corrected, looking up at Derek and sniffing quietly, huddling further into the tight coil of blankets Derek had given him, nearly every one he had in the loft actually...

"If... you need me to drive you home, yo-"

"No, no no... Derek.... I... I'm going to sound... CRAZY but you... you HAVE to believe me, please please believe me-"

"Stiles," he said quickly, quietly, leaning a little closer from where he was sitting on the coffee table and gently placing a hand on Stiles'

"I'll believe you, just... tell me what it is,"

Stiles looked conflicted for a moment, eyes darting between Derek's and the cup and back again before he spoke as quietly as a mouse

"I'm in an alternate universe,"

Seconds ticked by, Derek trying his hardest to respond to that in a way that wasn't dismissive or cold or cruel

He had promised he'd believe Stiles but... that was a little hard to swallow even for him

"Ok.... what makes you think that?" he finally asked

Stiles put the mug down, apparently giving up on the drink and moving a little closer, his hands- somehow still ice cold even after having held the hot mug for five minutes or more- gripping Derek's own

"I... I went to sleep," he said slowly, swallowing and staring at the floor

"I went to sleep last night.. in 2013.... I.. passed out, I passed out in the middle of the preserve... where your house used to be, I was.. injured... and alone... and everyone I love is... GONE..."

"Dead?"

"No, not... not all of them, just... some of them are just... GONE...."

"Where am I?"

Derek wouldn't count himself as someone Stiles loved, but if the other had been so extremely relieved to see him then he must be atleast somewhat important in this story

"You left... in 2012... around spring time, you left to hunt down the Desert Wolf and you never came back, you went with Braeden and ... she never said anything was wrong with you so... so I've been getting on trying to keep thinking that you're on a beach somewhere with Cora sipping Pina Coladas and talking about ... I don't know whatever the hell you two WOULD talk about.... but part of me has... has been scared for a wile now that you're dead too... I .. it .. it wouldn't change anything, you're GONE either way and I haven't talked to you in almost a year, we used to text, you know that? For a wile, and then... some stuff changed and we just... we just stopped and..... and...."

"Stiles," Derek said quietly, watching as the human glanced up at him, eyes teary and bloodshot, desperate to hear what he had to say

"I believe you, atleast.... I believe that you experienced this, but... don't you think there's an easier explanation than you somehow coming to an alternate universe?"

"Time travel?" Stiles guessed

Wich... really hadn't been the answer Derek was shooting for....

"No... no.... Stiles, isn't there a chance that this was a dream? Just.... just a bad dream?"

Stiles looked utterly crushed by the idea and Derek immediately regretted saying it

"It wasn't a dream! I've had dreams before Derek, vivid dreams, long dreams, dreams that I could SWEAR were reality but this was NOT a dream! I remember every SECOND of the last two years and NO dream no matter how vivid or long or pain-staking is THAT detailed!"

Derek nodded, trying his hardest to be understanding

Stiles needed someone right now, someone in his corner who would believe him and comfort him and be THERE for him when everyone else in his life needed someone to be there for THEM

Derek didn't need anyone to be there for him this time, so God help him, he would be there for Stiles

"Ok... ok, you said you remember everything right? So why don't you tell me how you ended up hurt and alone, start from the beginning, the entire chain of actions that lead up to that, start with ... with why I left to begin with,"

Boy did Derek get what he asked for.....

~+~

Two hours later Stiles was finally done, and Derek looked like he had just witnessed a little old lady getting hit by a truck

To be fair, it was a pretty reasonable reaction, it was five in the morning and Stiles had spent two hours chewing his ear off and the story wasn't in any way gentle or easy to hear

He was surprised Derek was even still alert at this point really

"Ok... let me condense this a little," Derek said slowly, wich was probably what surprised Stiles most of all, during this entire thing Derek had been nothing but warm and gentle and soothing and Stiles believed even more than he had in the first place that he was in an alternate universe now

"So... you're saying that Kate is back from the dead, turned into a werejaguar and kidnaps me, drags me to Mexico and.. deages me? So that she can get a fake talisman from my family's vault, then when I age up again I start turning human, in the mean time a 'deadpool'- wich, sounds more like a hit list to me but whatever- is constructed with all of our names on it and strange assassins start crawling out of the wood work to kill us, who is hired by this .. banshee girl you met in Eichen who's actually an evil mastermind who knew Peter when he was in Eichen and ... read his mind? In order to get the idea for this hit list thing, when Allison died she woke up the nemeton or... something... and it triggered this banshee to start the hit list, you manage to get her out of the way but not before finding out that Malia- the werecoyote- is the daughter of Peter and an assassin named the Desert Wolf, Peter and Kate are working together and kidnap Scott and Kira, Kate turns Scott into a berserker and we all go to Mexico to save them, I die and then come back to life as a full shifted wolf and call it an 'evolution', Kate gets away, Peter is sent to Eichen and I leave with Braeden to hunt down this assassin- and somewhere in all of this Scott bites someone hanging off a rooftop and turns him into a beta- and, by the way, handles it EXTREMELY poorly- then six months of calm pass and you meet this .. guy... Theo? Who you knew in fourth grade? And he's some kind of werewolf-werecoyote hybrid, right? And then you find out that this guy is being controlled by science fiction doctors who are trying to create chimeras to bring back the 'original' werewolf for reasons that STILL aren't clear to me, your father's deputy is a hellhound, Scott's beta's girlfreind gets turned into a werewolf, you kill a guy in self defense after he... bites you in the shoulder with his hand...? Lydia is sent to Eichen and gets a hole drilled in her head, Kira walks off with Skinwalkers to control her fox, then three months later you get taken by The Wild Hunt who also have Peter and are trying to erase you both from existence, during that ... entire... thing.. apparently some humans find out about the supernatural and kill Scott's betas, after this Malia is killed by her mother, then some other ... strange.. creature happens that I honestly didn't get the details of and in the process of killing it you learn that you have magic and the blowback from using it kills Lydia, Scott blames you and leaves you and... during all of this you mean to tell me that your father isn't around? That he tried to arrest Kira with no evidence of her murdering some stranger in Scott's kitchen? That he more or less didn't want to remember you and has been cold to you since you came back, that he's been flopping between condemning and condoning supernatural behavior, and that Scott has been blaming you for essentially everything since I left and that he's been extremely careless as both an Alpha and a werewolf in general and ... Stiles..... I promised to believe you but this is alot to swallow, it all sounds very.... well.... ridiculous, for lack of a better word,"

Stiles sighed quietly, sniffing and rubbing his eyes

"I know how it sounds but it's TRUE... and you have a few details wrong, by the way, like Theo isn't actually the same Theo we knew for one thing,"

Derek wrinkled his nose, shaking his head slowly

"Stiles, do you realize how all of this sounds?"

"Crazy?"

"No, it sounds like you're projecting your worst fears in this moment, the fear that your father won't be able to handle the supernatural and so will end up making some stupid choices because of it and eventually abandoning you, the fear that Scott is going to blame you for Allison's death and abandon you- that Lydia will abandon you even if she doesn't necessarily blame you, the fear that you're going to indirectly cause the deaths of more innocent people, that Scott can't handle being an Alpha, that I'm going to leave when you still think you need me and not be here to help, that this girl Malia is dangerous, that you've been marked by the nogitsune in a way that will never fade, in a way that gives you power- the wrong kind of power-"

"I told you about the void thing right?"

"Yes, wich only further serves my point, Stiles... if you take away all of the details and get right down to it, your entire story boils down to one massive ... fear... wich is completely reasonable to have but doesn't necessarily mean it's true,"

Stiles rolled that around in his head, not completely sure at first how to handle it, how to respond

"It was just... all SO real Derek... and how could I have a dream that goes through every single day moment to moment for almost two YEARS?"

"I don't know..."

"What if it's more than that? Huh? What if... what if it's a premonition?"

"Alright... what if it is? Do premonitions usually come with a reason? I mean... why would you have it NOW? Why not ... weeks ago before the nogitsune? And what are you supposed to do with all of this information?"

Stiles was quiet for a moment, looking down at his hands

"Change it?"

"How? It sounds like this... place... is fueled much more by other people's actions than your own,"

Stiles shrugged, leaning back and sighing shakily

"I don't know," he mumbled, rubbing at his eyes

"I think you need to sleep-"

"I just slept for a year and a half Derek,"

"Probably more like an HOUR and a half, listen... we'll talk about this in the morning ok?"

"It IS morning,"

"After the sun comes up.... please Stiles,"

Stiles went quiet again, licking his lips and grabbing the mug of hot chocolate, drinking the last of it even though it had gone cold long ago

"Ok... ok...... just... call my dad, tell him I came here to sleep because I couldn't be alone anymore,"

"Alright," Derek agreed

"But on three conditions,"

Judging by the look on Derek's face Stiles would be willing to bet he hadn't seen that coming

"Ok.... what are your conditions?"

"First, SWEAR to me that we're gonna look into this in the morning, don't just dismiss it as a bad dream, promise me that we're going to investigate, see if... if some of this stuff, some of these PEOPLE are even real, ok? I mean... I mean if we find out that ... Hayden Romero doesn't even exist then I ... I could ... get behind it maybe being a dream, you know?"

"I swear it,"

"Second, SWEAR to me on your LIFE- on MY life, on my DAD'S life- that you aren't going to leave,"

"I'll be here all day Stiles, I pro-"

"No! ... No, no... I mean....." he paused, squeezing his eyes shut

He hated this

He hated doing this to him

Because the Derek from his universe or his timeline or his DREAM or whatever probably WAS on a beach somewhere sipping Mai Tais and listening to the radio and talking to Cora... and HAPPY....

Or atleast maybe he wasn't miserable

Maybe he was in New York, had a nice apartment for himself, maybe a job or maybe not, maybe he was watching the snowfall out his window, warm and safe and atleast somewhat content....

"Stiles?"

But he was with this Derek now and .. and he was being selfish but he couldn't help it

"Swear to me Derek, that you're going to stay here, that.... that you aren't going to just... just run off somewhere and never come back, please... please Derek please...."

"I swear Stiles, alright? I promise,"

"No matter what happens?"

"No matter what happens,"

"Even if it seems important?"

"No matter how important it is, if I absolutely HAVE to leave for some reason... I will tell you first, in person, and make absolutely sure that we stay in contact with eachother until I come back, now... what's your third condition?"

Stiles fidgeted, nose wrinkling, he hated himself for this one even more but.. but if that WAS a dream he couldn't risk having it again and if it was real....

"Sleep with me,"

Derek's mouth dropped open, eyebrows raised, and Stiles hurried to correct himself

"Not- ... no, not ... not like that I just mean.... Derek I can't be alone right now, I CAN'T..... just.... just please.. please don't... don't-"

"Stiles-"

"I'm eighteen, it's ... if anybody finds out and gets the wrong idea you can't get in trouble but I just NEE-"

"Stiles,"

A breath

"Ok,"

Another breath, easier, calmer, at peace...

Stiles wasn't even sure what happened after that, he was being ushered into Derek's bed one minute, felt the shift of the werewolf's weight dip into the mattress the next, the blankets were warm and everything from there was fuzzy but he could swear he felt strong arms wrap around him and a quiet voice murmuring soft things into his ear

~+~

"Morning, are you feeling any better?"

Stiles blinked, rubbing his eyes as he turned towards the voice and slowly pushing himself up

Derek was sitting on the edge of the bed, apparently having noticed that he was starting to wake, and holding a cup of orange juice towards him

So it hadn't been a dream... he really was in 2011....

And in Derek's loft no less

He swallowed, slowly reaching out and taking the glass

"Yeah, kinda, I didn't dream so that has to be a good sign," he shrugged back sipping slowly at the orange juice

"Good," Derek agreed simply, clearly not knowing what to say any more than Stiles did

"Did you call my dad?" he finally asked chewing his lip and staring into the glass of orange juice

"Yeah, I did this morning, he said everything was fine, that he expected you home for dinner,"

Stiles let out a joyless laugh, shaking his head slowly

"God... I remember not that long ago I used to hate it when he said that to me... but in the last year.... you don't know how badly I've wanted to hear it,"

"Stiles-"

"Can we go now?" Stiles interrupted, licking his lips and staring up at the werewolf

"To.. to see if we can find something about this... crap... that's happened to me, can we go now?"

"Soon," Derek corrected

"I want you to eat breakfast and take a shower first, it'll feel better, it'll help,"

Stile wrinkled his nose, sniffing but ultimately giving a small nod of agreement

"Alright.... alright fine," he mumbled

Derek nodded, getting up and heading over to his dresser

"Good, you can borrow my clothes, I'll have breakfast ready in a few minutes,"

Stiles wasn't really sure what Derek could have at the loft that really would constitute as breakfast, given that his cabinets were mostly empty, but he was willing to play along

Anything that could keep he and Derek together, anything that could prevent them from losing eachother- from Stiles losing him especially

And for what it was worth, he DID feel a little bit better after

~+~

"Well well, little late birthday gift? Don't let your dad see,"

Stiles really should have known better than to go anywhere in Derek's clothes, especially to the police station, but he couldn't be bothered to care at this point, it was far from a priority on his list

Even if he DID have to wear a belt to keep Derek's jeans up because apparently SOMEONE'S butt was big enough to support XL jeans all on it's own, given that his hip size was roughly the same as Derek's that was really the only explanation....

Atleast the shirt fit, given that Stiles always wore his clothes loose anyway

"Heeeey Deputy Clark, it wasn't like that," he said with a slight urgency to his voice

"Listen we actually came here for a reason, by any chance you don't have a sister .. named Hayden Romero do you? I mean why would you right? You have two different last names, why wou-"

"Actually Hayden IS my sister, how did you know?"

Stiles felt his heart sink, tightening his jaw

"I.. saw her on Facebook, she uh... said you were her sister and I ... didn't think she could be talking about the same Deputy Clark," he explained with a small shrug

The deputy stared at him strangely, tilting her head

"How-"

"Does she know a guy named Liam Dunbar?"

"You mean her not-quite-boyfreind boyfreind? Yeah, why?"

Stiles resisted the urge to curse, pursing his lips tightly

"No reason," he muttered, ducking off towards where Derek was "charming"- AKA flirting with- one of the other deputies

"Again I can't thank you enough for this Deputy Campbell,"

"Think nothing of it! Trust me if my sister dated somebody with a criminal record I'd want to know about it too,"

Derek waved, taking a few steps closer to Stiles and sighing quietly

"I found out-"

"Deputy Campbell is a guy," Stiles said flatly

Derek paused, eyebrows raised and head tilted

"What's your point?"

"My... point is I didn't know he was gay,"

"Yeah, well, you learn something new every day," Derek shrugged back, leading Stiles towards the exit of the police station

"Were you being sincere? I mean... you seemed kinda like... a little more.. serious.... with him than you did that time Jackson attacked us here, remember? You .. totally sold yourself out to Deputy Johnson, but THIS... I mean... is there somethin' about you that I don't know about?"

"You mean the fact that I'm bi?" he guessed

Stiles' mouth fell open, eyebrows raising in surprise

"Seriously? That... wow, yeah, that's great! That.. that's really a good thing, I mean, you know... good for you! I'm glad you feel like you can trust me enough to... you know.... out yourself-"

"It isn't outing if I was never in, is it? I haven't told you before because it hasn't come up, not because I'm trying to hide it,"

Stiles just gave a quick nod to that, deciding to drop the subject before things started getting personal

"So I was right on my end, did you find out anything about Theo?"

"He's everything you said he was, atleast according to the limited information we have of him,"

He swallowed, biting the inside of his cheek as he walked towards the Toyota, not having felt like bringing the Jeep, much less driving

"Ok so we have confirmation that the people I 'dreamed' about are real, what next? Events?"

"How do we prove the reality of events that haven't happened yet?" Derek asked with a frown

"By proving that they're possible? Proving.... set up, I know I talked fast last night so... I'll make a list of stuff I shouldn't know, you can go over it, tell me how much of it is true, if I'm just shooting blanks then we'll keep looking for a crack in the theory, but if I get most of the info right..."

Derek just nodded, not wanting or needing to hear what it would mean if Stiles was mostly correct about his... assumptions

"Alright then.... you hungry?"

And for the first time in ages, yeah... Stiles kind of was

~+~

"You wrote all of this on the car ride over? Unbelievable," Derek muttered as he stared down at the notepad in front of him

There were atleast six pages of random facts and details listed in short-hand and he didn't even know where to start...

"I have a talent for fast writing," Stiles shrugged back, leaning back in the booth and watching as Derek pulled the notepad closer, lips pursed as he started skimming over it

"Ok... alright... yes, if claws go deep enough it can result in a turn instead of a kill, yes... the Caleveras are real and no freind of mine, yes my family vault is under the school, yes there's a fake talisman there that- .... I can't believe you know the exact figure of how much money Peter has," he sighed

"And your money? It's tied up in the loft right?"

"More than the loft, I have several real estate investments- among other things- but .... yes, some of it is in the loft,"

Stiles snapped his fingers, nodding along and listening to Derek as he muttered "Yes" to himself with each passing line

"I don't know if de-aging and de-evolution are really things... but developing a full wolf shift certainly is..." he had always wanted one, ever since he was a little kid, he dreamed of being able to full-shift like his mother....

"Unfortunately most of this is ... frighteningly accurate, and what I can't confirm I can't really deny either, I'm still not sure if I'd say you had time-traveled but... something certainly happened,"

Stiles felt a sigh of releif escape him, he felt validated for the first time in so long that he had forgotten what validation felt like at all

"Thank you..."

"Mm... don't consider it a favor, your evidence is just pretty hard to dispute,"

Stiles rolled his eyes, taking a shaking breath and rubbing his head

"So... what do we do now?"

"I was actually about to ask you that same question, we should find someone who knows more about this stuff and ask for a second opinion before we delve in too deep, Deaton is-"

"Not an option," Stiles interrupted

Derek looked mildly confused by that, but didn't question him

"Do you have a better idea then?"

When Stiles' coke arrived a second later he took a sip, nodding slowly in response

"Yeah actually.... I do,"

~+~

"Stiles... this is a surprise,"

"Heeey Mrs. Yukimura, we need some help with something,"

Noshiko didn't seem especially pleased to see him, but one look at his face had her sighing and reluctantly inviting him in- and Derek along with him, as it were

"So what is it that brings this unexpected visit?"

Stiles didn't even hesitate or give the kitsune any warning before diving right in, telling her the entire tale about how things had gotten the way they were and how he believed he must have time-traveled here or.... come from another dimension or something...

It took over an hour, and that wasn't going into detail like he did for Derek, just telling her the absolute basics, and by the time he was finished...

She looked somewhat ...frightened....

Or perhaps just alarmed

"That's... quite a story," she said slowly

Stiles licked his lips, leaning back in the chair he was sitting in and dragging his hands down his face

"You're telling me," He sighed

"Have you ever heard of anything like this?" Derek asked immediately

"Well... yes, but it's a rare occurrence,"

That pulled Stiles' attention and he sat up a little bit more

"What? What's a rare occurrence? What's going on here exactly?"

"A premonition, but not just any premonition... a warning,"

"Warning," Stiles repeated slowly

Noshiko gave a small nod of her head

"What's so special about that? I mean aren't most premonitions warnings?"

"Yes, but this is a very specific type of warning, you've heard of A Christmas Carol haven't you?"

"Yeah, who hasn't?"

"That's a good example of the type of warning you've recieved, something extremely intense, unmistakable, something that leaves no doubt that it isn't just a dream or a premonition, something that doesn't warn just ... anything, it warns death and despair, not only for you either, but for many other lives around you,"

"Right, ok... I've got that part," Stiles said slowly, licking his lips and fidgeting with his hands as he glanced up at her

"The question here is ... what do I do about it now? How do I put these changes into affect and make sure that this... other future doesn't happen?"

"I suppose that depends on what your warning is for,"

"Isn't it... isn't it to... change the course of events?"

Atleast, that's what Stiles thought it was for, but he could be wrong he supposed...

"Yes, but just like Ebineezer Scrooge there's something that you need to change about yourself to make change happen, it isn't as easy as just throwing a little money at Tiny Tim and expecting the world to change course, there's something fundamental you have to change about yourself or one way or another the events you foresaw are going to happen,"

"Like in that movie, 'Premonition'?"

Noshiko frowned a little bit more, one eyebrow raising smoothly and leaning back

"Ignoring the fact that you've seen that movie... yes, premonitions can only work one of two ways, they can either follow the laws of the butterfly effect, or they can follow the laws of fate, you've been presented with a very rare opportunity where you have one chance to ensure that what you saw doesn't come true, one chance to figure out what it is that will prevent all of that from happening, there's only one trigger Stiles, if you don't find the right one, fate will occur, no matter how many times you try to stop it,"

"One chance?" Stiles sneered

"How am I supposed to figure out what it is that I need to do in ONE chance!?"

"It was easy enough for Scrooge, just think, take a deep breath and try to think about a recurring theme that played a part in all of the problems you faced,"

"I don't know, violence? Insanity? EVIL?"

"Concentrate, something you personally are responsible for, something that has followed you all this time and seems to be something that comes up over and over again,"

"I don't know," Stiles sighed, rubbing his eyes with frustration

"Stiles... I know this is hard, but you must try harder, concentrate, if you don't figure this out now you may run out of time," Noshiko urged

"You mean because I won't be able to prevent Kate from kidnapping Derek and setting off this entire chain of events?"

"Well.... that too... but more because you may begin to forget your premonition entirely,"

"What?" Stiles breathed

She couldn't be serious.... could she...?

"You won't remember this premonition forever Stiles, it will start to fade sooner than later, in fact I'm willing to bet that you've already started to lose parts of your memory from that time,"

"No, no I remember everything, I know I do,"

"Are you sure? What's your favorite TV show right now?"

"Um... American Horror Story,"

"What happened in the most recent season from your premonition?"

Stiles opened his mouth to speak but... paused, swallowing and starting to go pale

He.... he didn't remember.....

He took a shaking breath

He couldn't remember...

"How do I stop it?"

"You don't, you can't live your life living in two worlds Stiles, you can't live with this... ghost of yourself influencing everything, it isn't healthy, and it doesn't fit with the laws of the universe, the things that you want to remember- that you want to change- you need to write them down, within a few weeks this will have all seemed like a bad dream, wich is why you need to figure out the trigger NOW,"

He swallowed, his jaw tense as he rubbed at his eyes and sniffed

"Stiles..." Derek said quietly, gently placing a hand on his back

"I'm fine," he muttered

"Perhaps that's something you need to change too, lying when someone is trying to help," Noshiko suggested, and although it sounded harsh, Stiles knew she meant well by it

"Maybe.... maybe that's the trigger," Derek said slowly, glancing up at the kitsune

"Secrets, Stiles ... Stiles said he kept secrets in this other timeline, alot of secrets, maybe that's what's wrong, maybe the secrets he's keeping, his lack of honesty.... maybe that's what kept causing the problems,"

"Is it something that's consistent? Something that started from the beginning of the dream?" Noshiko asked

Derek frowned, seeming pensive

"I... don't know...."

"Some," Stiles muttered back, hanging his head and refusing to look up at the other two people in the room

"I... have some secrets," he mumbled back

Derek looked down, caught in confusion on what to do, he didn't want to ever make Stiles feel pressured or invade his privacy but...

If this is what he needed to do to keep from his premonition coming true...

"Do you remember what I told you... Derek? About... about how Lydia dies in the ... the other world?"

"Lydia? Um... yeah... yeah you said you had some kind of magic and it.. backfired? Or ... it killed her... and Scott blamed you for it right?"

"Yeah, the blowback from using my magic..."

There was a pregnant pause before Noshiko finally seemed to catch on

"You have magic?" she asked slowly

Stiles exhaled shakily, slowly, ducking his head down as the front door of the Yukimuras' house suddenly creaked open

Derek and Noshiko jerked their attention up, staring at the door and watching as it closed and locked again

"You already have magic," Derek breathed

"Yeah.... yeah, when the nogitusne left, he didn't take everything with him," Stiles muttered back

"That isn't true," Noshiko said quickly, causing Stiles to look up at her in confusion

"Stiles, the nogitsune cannot infuse you with power, when someone is possessed, their body is used as a puppet by their possessor,"

"Yeah, I pretty much got that part when he used me to throw people around like bags of chips,"

"No no, I mean... that power was HIS, any power he used was HIS and he only used your body as a ... a a box, for that power to settle into, think of it as the cover on an outlet, if you plug something into the outlet it absorbs the power, but the plastic covering over the outlet is just that: A cover, it can't do anything on it's own, it's just there so that the wall doesn't get scratched, if you plug something into the plastic cover with no outlet behind it, nothing happens,"

"So I'm the plastic cover and the nogitsune was the outlet and the power he used was the plug right? Or something like that?"

"Something like that," she confirmed

"Ok, so what does that mean?"

"It means that any magic you have, you had before, magic cannot be transferred the way things like werewolfism can, it isn't the same, you're either born with magic or you're not, so if you have it now... you've always had it, it most likely just hasn't presented it's self as obviously before, it may have only started developing around puberty, that's when supernatural powers generally begin presenting themselves, and being around all of these other supernatural influences likely helped, were there any indications of it before now?"

"Yeah.... yeah I've had a few," Stiles muttered back, taking a breath and giving another slow nod

"It all makes sense," Derek said slowly

"If you were using your magic, or ... even if people just knew you HAD it there would be so many changes... if they knew you were precognitive they would have been more prone to respecting your opinion about who to trust and who not to trust, you could break Lydia out of Eichen easier, maybe even jerk her out of her coma to begin with, your father would have been more trusting, you could have defended yourself-"

"Stopped Kate,"

Derek frowned, glancing up at him

"Stiles... that isn't your responsibility,"

"Actually, it might be," Noshiko said quietly

"Think about the timeline for a moment, why would Stiles have this premonition NOW? Why not after you were taken? Or after the first of the year? We know the reason he didn't before now was due to the nogitsune but this still very soon after, his premonition began with your disappearance, that's most likely the catalyst for everything,"

"And so if I don't stop Kate and Derek ends up getting taken anyway.... what? All of this ... it's going to happen anyway?"

"No," the kitsune replied, shaking her head

"Not necessarily anyway, you have to understand that everyone thinks fate and the butterfly effect work against eachother but in reality they work TOGETHER, some things can change with a hair trigger reflex and no matter when you expose your magic, when you master it, there will be changes because of that... however, there are some things that just ARE, they're fate, and no matter how big the changed factor is, they won't be affected, some things are just meant to happen, you're making your first step now, by coming here, figuring this out, you have a better chance at preventing Derek being taken regardless of you getting rid of the huntress, if she takes him anyway... it may just be one of those things that can't change, and when you encounter those things Stiles- and you will- you CAN'T blame yourself, you have to be understanding of the concept of fate and make peace with the fact that nothing you could have done would have changed it,"

Stiles swallowed, leaning back and biting his lip, shifting uncomfortably

"You need your magic Stiles, you need to be able to use it, the future you saw... it can't be allowed to happen, all of that pain that would come to you and your freinds..."

"Don't you mean to Kira?" Stiles asked quietly, watching as Noshiko lowered her gaze

"I mean, not that I blame you, if I were in your position she'd be my priority too, I'm just saying.... you don't want her going with the Skinwalkers any more than we did, do you?"

"No mother ever wants her child to suffer, the future you described for my daughter would be full of suffering, losing control of her fox that way.... it would hurt her terribly, and being with the Skinwalkers, away from her freinds, her boyfreind, everything that makes her happy.... not coming back, possibly, until they're all dead... I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy, and least of all on my own child,"

"I'm sure it doesn't feel very good knowing she'd be away from you for so long either, does it?"

"It doesn't, I will do anything I can to prevent that future for Kira, so my intentions for helping you are not entirely selfless... but that doesn't mean I wouldn't want to help you regardless,"

"And that's why you're bothering with me instead of just ... moving somewhere else, right?"

The kitsune gave a slow nod of confirmation, glancing up at him again

"I'm going to help you Stiles, mentor you, I may not be a spark like you are but-"

"I'm a what?" Stiles interrupted

"A spark, a fledgling witch, why? Have you heard that term before?"

"Yeah.... yeah I have," he muttered, his mind shifting back to Deaton for a moment

"I assume whatever connection you have with that word isn't the best one... so I'll leave it alone for now, we'll talk about it during our first session, I can help you Stiles, perhaps not with spells and potions but... I can help you with endurance, with stability, the basics, you'll have to learn most of the actual magic on your own but I can help you learn to control it, kitsune do, after all, possess our own magic that differs from that of your average shapeshifter,"

"Yeah," he mumbled, licking his lips slowly and glancing back up at her

"Ok... alright, I'll ... yeah, after the holidays, when... when things cool off a little bit, we'll start then, is ... is that ok?"

"Just what I was going to suggest, in the mean time, whatever you do, don't smother your magic, let it come, try to understand it, try to use it, and when it comes to your intuition, embrace it, find someone you trust explicitly, someone you can trust with everything, when anything seems off or uncertain or you have something that you want to keep to yourself, whatever it is, tell that one person, even if that alone doesn't change the course of events, atleast you won't be alone, come by tommorrow afternoon, we'll tell Kira about all of this, she and Derek can help you tell your other freinds about what's happening so it's... less overwelming for you,"

"What about my dad? He's not exactly... happy, with all the supernatural stuff, especially after... recent events,"

"Tell him soon, before anyone else knows, take Derek, he should help,"

"Right," Stiles mumbled, nodding slowly and taking a slow, deep breath

"Ok.... ok, I can do all of that, anything else?"

She gave a small shake of her head, offering him a slight smile

"This is good Stiles, I know it doesn't feel like it is but trust me, when you start to develop your magic, you'll see the positives, and coming to me with this, allowing me to help you... it's a very good step in the right direction,"

"Thanks," Stiles said with a slight smile, hesitating before deciding to add something else

"And... Mrs. Yukimura?"

"Yes?"

"If... if Kira earns her first tail next year... take her to New York, and don't bring her back,"

A grimm look crossed the woman's face, nodding slowly and reaching out to place her hand on Stiles' shoulder

"Thank you... I'll make sure to heed that advice,"

~+~

_"You want me to let you stay with Derek Hale for **how** long?"_

"Just a few days? Please I.. I know how busy the holidays are for you ok? But.. but I can't be alone, not right now-"

_"Stiles-"_

"And Derek is the only one I feel can... you know... tolerate me right now, it wouldn't be fair to go to Scott with my crap with what he's going through, he's an adult, he won't let me get into trouble, and if you want I'll send you pictures of me holding the day's newspapper every hour on the hour alright?"

The long pause on the other end of the phone had to be a good sign ... right?

_"A few days, that's IT Stiles, and you're going back to school after Thanksgiving break, understand? Home. On Thanksgiving. Got it?"_

"Yeah... yeah Dad thanks, love you,"

_"Love you too kiddo, you just get some rest alright? No ... no crazy stuff,"_

"Swear it, see you,"

_"See you soon son,"_

"How'd it go?"

Stiles glanced up, turning his phone off and putting it back in his pocket

"Shockingly well, I think he's probably glad to have me out of the house for a few days if I'm being honest, you know, give him a chance to get some sleep without being woken up with screaming,"

Derek pursed his lips, shifting a little in his seat, he wanted to tell Stiles that that wasn't true but... anything he said was going to sound like empty words at this point, he knew that from experience

"So, you're staying for ... what? A week?"

"Something like that, if you're ok with it ofcourse,"

"I'm ok with it," Derek shrugged easily, staying quiet for a moment as he pulled up to a red light

"I don't think I'm going back to school though, after the holidays I mean,"

Derek glanced up, frowning deeply

"Why-"

"I think I'm gonna just get my GED, spend .. this and senior year learning how to .. how to deal with this magic stuff, I think it'd be beneficial... and, you know, I've already been through senior year once, even without all of the homicide and trauma it wasn't exactly something I want to repeat,"

"Stiles-"

"I think it'd be better, having this time free to just focus on what I need to do with my magic, it'd be.... healthier, I guess, you know? I mean magic... that's gonna be alot, this.. all of this..... and it isn't just the magic either, I don't want any of what happened in my premonition to come true and I know Noshiko said that some of it inevitably will but... the less comes true the better, we need somebody on this full time, monitoring things, keeping Beacon Hills safe, and no offense Derek but you can't really do that on your own, now that Argent is leaving that's one less person we have doing that job,"

"But it shouldn't be YOUR job to do-"

"Yeah, well, it is, ok? I had the premonition, I have the MAGIC, and no offense but you yourself said magic is versatile, werewolfism... not so much, I NEED to do this Derek.... please.. I need to,"

Derek sighed, closing his eyes and opening them again as the light turned green

It wasn't his place to tell Stiles no, and besides that, he didn't have much of a right to considering that he had gotten his GED rather than finish highschool too, the circumstances may have been different but the outcome was the same...

And he didn't have any right to try to control Stiles' life, especially when it came to his happiness

"Besides, it'll be great, you and me protecting the city, like Superman and Supergirl! I'm still clumsy and wet behind the ears but I'll learn, I'll figure it out, and I'll have a big ol' Wolf Of Steel to, you know, actually help me instead of spending all day in Metropolis sucking on Lois Lane's face,"

Derek snorted, shaking his head slowly and grinning from ear to ear

"Yeah, well even Supergirl still worked at Cat Co, so what are you going to do after your gap year? College?"

"Nah... I didn't really delve into it with you but the college thing... I thought about it so much, put so much towards it... I knew by the time senior year started that I was only doing it to stick with everyone else and by the time senior year was almost over I really had lost-"

Stiles paused, grinning from ear to ear as he glanced up at the werewolf in the driver's seat

"Did you just ACTUALLY reference Supergirl? Oh my GOD!"

Derek rolled his eyes- though fondly, unable to stop himself from smirking a little bit, this was, after all, the first time in weeks that Stiles had acted anything like his old self, and to say it was refreshing was putting it mildly

"Don't hold that over my head,"

"O-Over... over your head?! Derek this is great! I mean, do you like Wonder Woman too? Or Batgirl? Oh! Oh! PLEASE tell me you like Raven! Dude-"

"Stiles if you let me drive in peace I promise we'll talk superhero later, or... superherione, as it were,"

"Ok, ok, that's fair," Stiles agreed with a nod, smiling just slightly to himself as he glanced out the window of the car, feeling... strangely light, wich he hadn't felt in longer than he can remember

"So what are you doing if not college then?"

"I don't know yet, something to do with supernatural stuff maybe? Like opening a werewolf haberdashery or becoming a fortune teller or selling my witchy skills like spells and visions and- ... oh my GOD Derek I know what I'm going to do!"

"What's that?"

"A supernatural private detective agency!! Think about it! I can be keeping the town safe and earning a pay check at the same time! It'd be perfect! Only we won't advertise it that way, obviously, I'll just be a private detective who 'specializes' in weird cases! I mean do you have any idea how many people are involved in supernatural stuff without even knowing it? Or how many just have weird stuff going on? It'll be perfect! You can be my assistant too, if you want,"

"I'm so honored," Derek teased flatly

"Ok but... dude... I'm serious,"

"Stiles... that's.... are you sure that's something you'd really want to do?"

"COMPLETELY sure, I mean... look, I went down the road I always thought I wanted, ok? Traditional police work, hunting down... criminals, and... working with my dad and doing the .. the highschool and college and... even if I won't remember all of that stuff a month from now I still know enough to know that ..... that wasn't for me, but this? This might just be,"

Derek nodded slowly, pulling up to the loft and giving a quiet exhale

Stiles seemed... passionate about something, excited.... and Derek himself had never had that, even now his money was tied into real estate and investments and all of the things Laura did when he was still barely as old as Stiles and she was just trying to protect them, ever since Derek hasn't had the desire, passion, or motivation to do more than that, but Stiles....

Stiles wanted something, something that could be good not only for him but for the rest of the town too, and Derek wasn't about to rain on his parade

"Ok, if you still want this in a year then.... count me in,"

"Really?"

He nodded once, giving him a small smile

"Really,"

~+~

"Ok... I think this one is finished," Derek sighed, slapping the notebook on top of the slowly growing pile accumulating on his coffee table

"Did you get the part about Scott needing to bring extra pencils to his chem midterm?"

"Yes, Stiles, and for the record, that puts an end to recording day to day activity, we need to be working on getting the big facts down not every little flaw and inconvenience, at this rate it'll be December before we're even half-way done,"

"I know," Stiles mumbled quietly, clearly having been trying to avoid the very thing Derek was trying so hard to accomplish

"It's going to be ok, this.... this will be over soon, I promise," Derek promised quietly, setting a hand on Stiles' shoulder and giving it a slight squeeze

Stiles smiled sadly up at him, watching as the werewolf got off of the couch and made his way over to the kitchen to bring back more pizza for the two of them

Stiles had suggested just leaving the box on the coffee table but Derek refused

"So um... I wanted to thank you, wile it's on my mind, for ... you know.... everything,"

"You don't need to thank me Stiles, really," Derek assured him quietly, setting the plates on the coffee table

"Yeah I do, seriously, thank you Derek, for... for being here, for being the person I can trust,"

For being what he needed most of all, but he left that unsaid

"Ofcourse," the wolf agreed quietly, picking up another notebook to start writing in

"So since I trust you and all there's... something else I've been keeping secret,"

That one seemed to take Derek by surprise, considering the look on his face when Stiles said that

"What is it?"

"I'm bi,"

It was blurted out so quickly and so ... suddenly that Stiles himself had to take a moment to wonder if he had really just said it or not

"That's.. that's great," Derek said with a supportive smile, reaching out and placing a hand on Stiles' shoulder

"I'm really honored to be the first person you're coming out to, and... to be clear I don't think this is one of the secrets you have to tell everyone if you don't want to, I'm pretty sure your sexuality won't make a big im-"

"And I'm in love with you,"

Well if Derek had been surprised before he was downright shocked now

"What-"

"And I know this is like... the WORST timing ever and right now you probably just think that it's due to me being an emotional wreck and like... projecting feelings of security and safety onto you and thus making it FEEL like I'm in love or whatever other crap you might learn from Dr. Phil, listen, I've been head over heels for you for months now but.. you know... haven't said anything for really, really obvious closet-related reasons, and age related reasons, and you know... you being you... the point is, this is not a new development, and I... I KNOW what life is like without you, I know what life is like where I never said anything and you're off... being happy completely oblivious to .... I just... I'm not asking for anything, ok? I'm not, but I've already tried life without telling you and..... and telling you, no matter what you say... it can't be worse than how much regret I felt over that,"

Derek was quiet for a moment, looking down and glancing back up at Stiles slowly

"This is going to sound horrible... and I don't mean it the way it's going to come out but... are you sure?"

"As sure as humanly possible, or... witchingly possible... whatever,"

The thing is, Derek knew better

He knew what it was like to be young, vulnerable and preyed upon and he would never, EVER do that to anyone, least of all Stiles

But...

But he could also hear the sincerity in his voice and the honesty in his heart beat and he also knew what it was like to love someone and be told no....

Slowly, Derek moved closer, cupping Stiles' face and leaning down to give him a soft, tender kiss

It was soft and sweet and so very loving but it was over far too soon

"That's as far as we go until you're out of school, I know you're eighteen but it still feels weird being involved with a highschooler,"

"Ok, yeah that... that's great," Stiles breathed with an ecstatic smile

"And you're telling your father about this tommorrow, I'm not going to be a secret,"

"Done,"

"And.... I love you, wich means I'm going to do what's best for you, so if I'm ever not what's best for you-"

"Derek," Stiles interrupted

"You will be,"

Somehow, filling out the notebooks went alot more quickly after that

~+~

Even though Derek had kept to his word about a gentle kiss being as far as they went for now, it was an unspoken exception to the rule that they were sharing a bed

Stiles was still filled with anxiety, loneliness, and distress and the thought of being alone was terrifying to him, even if Derek was only a few feet away on the couch

It was clearly better that they simply share a bed, and Stiles, luckily, was sleeping peacefully being this close to Derek...

Atleast....

Until he had another dream

This one, however, wasn't as clear as the other had been, not by far, it was actually very short... foggy... almost vague

There was only one clear part, one thing that stood out from the background:

Kate

Stiles woke up with a gasp, heart racing and anxiety pouring off of him in waves

"Stiles?" Derek asked worriedly, jerking awake and sitting up immediately

"Stiles what's wrong?"

"She's here..." he breathed

Derek's jaw tensed, a look of anger crossing over his face that Stiles hadn't seen in ages- or atleast, it felt like ages

"Stay here," he growled

"Are you kidding me? No way in hell!" Stiles insisted, hurrying to follow him out of bed as Derek started towards the center of the room

"Stiles I'm not kidding, you nee-"

"She's here,"

Sure enough, just as the words were leaving Stiles' mouth, Derek found himself staring into the face of Kate Argent, having just shot the lock off of his door and pried it open

"Hello Derek, I see you aren't alone,"

"Leave," Stiles snarled, taking a protective step in front of the werewolf

"Ohh isn't that cute? You got him to fight your battles for you, that's sweet," she mocked

Derek snarled from behind him, making a move to step closer only for Stiles to hold his arm out as a block, taking a few slow, calculating steps closer to the huntress and cocking his head to the side

"Believe me, there's nothing 'sweet' about me," he said coldly

Kate snorted, holding her gun up towards the two of them

"Move kid, I'm not above killing you if that's what I have to do,"

"Go ahead and try," Stiles challenged

"Stiles!!"

"Ohh, kid's got guts huh? ... Or maybe you're just stupid,"

Stiles stayed right where he was though, despite Derek's attempts to move him out of the way and taunting look on Kate's face

She held up the gun, pointed it forward, and pulled the trigger....

But nothing happened

The smirk on her face faltered, skin going paler as she kept pulling the trigger of the gun, over, and over, and over again

And as she stood there, starting to struggle, Derek made his move

What ensued was a considerably short lived battle considering that Kate had no working weapons and pretty much no experience as a jaguar

But Derek was glad for it, he hated fighting as it was but he hated fighting Kate even more, it brought back so many memories... too many memories...

"I could kill you," he said slowly, once he had her pinned to the ground

"I could rip you to shreds.... but I won't, instead I'm going to call the police, have you arrested for home invasion, assault with a deadly weapon, attempted murder.... even hunters have to obey the law,"

"Oh that's a crazy idea to have," Kate said with smirk and a scoff

Derek frowned more, reaching into his pocket and grabbing his cell phone

"I know you want me to kill you Kate, but that would just be acting like you and I don't want that, I'm a bigger, better person than that,"

"But I'm not,"

Derek spun around, watching in horror as Stiles pulled the trigger on the earlier discarded gun, the bullet passing through Kate's skull as he dropped the weapon to the floor

He swallowed, looking up and taking a few shaking steps towards Derek before throwing his arms around the wolf and hugging him tightly

"She won't ever hurt you again," he promised, hugging him tightly

"And the premonition I had.... it can't come true now,"

That was true, Kate had bee a major player throughout Stiles' dream, and now...

Now was a guarantee that however things unfolded, they would be different

Just, as Derek realized, Stiles too was different after that dream

He leaned up, giving Derek a soft kiss and burying his head in his shoulder

Different, Derek decided, wrapping his arms around Stiles and hugging him back

But perhaps this was what needed to happen months ago, maybe, just maybe, things were falling into perfect place once again

Maybe, just maybe... this was how things were meant to be all along...


End file.
